Minor navigation

Norwich Research Park secures approval for long-term development plans

Norwich Research Park secures approval for long-term development plans

9 January 2013

Norwich Research Park, one of Europe’s leading centres for research in Food, Health and the Environment, has won approval from South Norfolk Council for its ambitious long-term development.

Members of South Norfolk Council’s planning committee voted today to grant permission for the Masterplan for development of what is known as the Norwich Research Park North development.

The radical plans, which could create more than 5,000 jobs in the longer term, include new flagship buildings and upgrades to the park’s IT infrastructure and road network.

The vision of the Norwich Research Park partners and local government stakeholders is to develop a thriving research and innovation campus over the next decade and beyond by supporting spin-out and start-up companies and through attracting inward investment from large corporate organisations involved in science and technology.

In 2011, the Government awarded the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) £26m to invest in Norwich Research Park to deliver innovation from the research base and generate economic growth and job creation.

The investment will help to create and support new companies and jobs based on world-leading bioscience. Developments on the Park include:

• New Centrum ‘Hub’ Building and commercial research and development space – building due to start in Spring 2013
• New Enterprise Centre – building due to start in Spring 2013
• Enhancements to the Innovation Centre
• Improvements to the car parks, lighting, roads and IT infrastructure
• Improvements to the highways around the Park
• The addition of low-cost commercial space

In total 65,000 square metres of new commercial space for research and development will be created.

The Norwich Research Park North development area includes the John Innes Centre site (also encompassing research institutes The Sainsbury Laboratory and The Genome Analysis Centre), Institute of Food Research site and the University of East Anglia triangle site.

Matthew Jones, Chief Operating Officer, Norwich Research Partners LLP said: “The main strength of Norwich Research Park is the concentration of world-leading scientists coupled with the capability for multidisciplinary research.

“We are building on this by attracting new partners and innovative businesses to collaborate in our research and to fulfil our vision for commercialising the Park."

Alan Giles, Project Director for Norwich Research Park said “The Masterplan is our roadmap for the next fifteen years and beyond to provide the infrastructure for expansion. We are determined that by 2030 Norwich Research Park will be a pre-eminent international research and innovation Park focussed on crops, food, health, genomics and environmental sciences.”

He continued: “There is broad support for this vision, which could bring thousands of valuable jobs and major investment to the region. We are committed to working with neighbouring communities to integrate this long-term vision.”

Note - the Norwich Research Park South site is located directly adjacent to the south and west of the John Innes Centre site. This site will be developed by Bullen Developments Limited within a Masterplan integrated with Norwich Research Park North developments.